Artful Sensibility

Cleaner lines, unexpected art treasures and an open view to the gorgeous courtyard bring a more modern sensibility to the kitchen of this historic Atlanta home.

This 1920s brick Georgian home in Atlanta's Buckhead district sees a lot of entertaining by its owners, an entrepreneur and his wife who serves on a variety of boards. With another home in New York, this on-the-go couple spends about four months of the year here, and their day-to-day cooking consists primarily of preparing and eating breakfast together. But they love to host parties—which typically involve caterers—a fact that architects Todd Pritchett and Craig Dixon also took into account when redesigning the kitchen that was last updated in the 1980s.

The architects renovated the entire home for a streamlined traditional look, and the kitchen was no exception. Working around five doorways and two original windows needed for symmetry on the exterior, they decided to remove three walls between a series of small rooms to open the kitchen to a view of the terrace, pool and lush gardens. Coffeemaker, toaster and microwave are together on one side of the large island for quick breakfasts, and a Sub-Zero wine refrigerator and Sub-Zero ice machine tucked into a weathered cabinet keeps refreshments handy on the portico.

The rest of the kitchen is laid out for caterers with ample storage, sinks and dishwashers on the cooking side of the island, plus two Wolf 36-inch ovens centered on a Wolf 36-inch electric cooktop. The stainless steel of the Sub-Zero visually echoes the colorations of artful details including an abstract painting, decorated English chimney pot serving as support of the island's cantilevered limestone countertop, and an antique corner hutch—all items the couple requested be built into the design. "She is very demanding," says Pritchett, with admiration. "She wanted beautiful, high-quality equipment and loves the classic look of the stainless steel. The Wolf ovens were also every appealing, especially with the control panels that appear or disappear at the touch of a button. They're so unobtrusive."